Occupant-propelled carrousel



May 27, 1930. us m ET AL 1,760,811

OCCUPANT PROPELLED CARROUSEL Filed June 25, 1928 2 Sheets- Sheet 2 150F010 BusT/n' Patented May 27, 1930 UNHTED STATES,

P TENT OFFICE T LEOPOLD BUSTIN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., AND FRANK PRAVDA, OF DUNELLEN, 'NEW JERSEY- oooUPANm-PnornLL n oARRoUsEL I Application filed une 23,

This invention relates to carrousels or merry-go-rounds and has for its main ob ect to provlde a device of the mentioned character which maybe operated in an automatic manner by the user himself. Another object of this invention is to provide a device as characterized. hereinbefore which will be adpted to be used by children fora toy. 7

Still another object of ourinvention isto provide an automatic carrousel or merry-go- V round which will be inexpensive to manufacture, simple in construction and operation and which willhave features for adjusting the same to Various conditions. y

Further objects of our invention will be apparent as the specification of the same pro- 5 around said shaft carrying apawlaround,

ceeds.

, Features of our invention include a cross shaped base carrying a stationary upstanding shaft, a rotatable cross shaped structure on said shafthaving adjustable seats for the operator on the branches of the cross, a ratchet device secured to'the upper end of said up-standing shaft and alever rotatable the ratchet wheel in one direction and operable from one of said seats, wherebythe seat and thejrotatable cross structure on which it sits may be set into rotation around said shaft.

ence to the accompanying drawings, which With these objects, andsuch other objects as may herein appear, in view, the invention consists in the construction, arrangement and its construction and opera- 7 tion may be readily comprehended, we will now proceed with a full, clear and specific description of the invention, having refershow an approved embodiment thereof, and in which: I v

Fig. 1, is a plan view of our device several I of the seats having been removed,

.r. ata 1spart hereo ein t rn d 1928. -Serial No. 287,730.

in relation to Fig. 1, for clearness of showmg.

Fig. 3, is a side elevation of the seat, while the (form of channel irons turned with their openings in a downward direction and their ends being flattenedand downwardly bent as at 11 and 10. A rubber plate 12 is secured to each ofthe flattened ends whereby members 10 and 11 will retain their positions when placed on the ground and will be secured against rotation or sliding on the ground by frictionally gripping the same, The "two members are vplaced in a crossshaped formation, memberll being higher than member 10 and bridging it at a distance thereover. Each member is provided with a hole 13 in its center and a vertical center shaft 14 is set into said holes, a sleeve15 surrounds said shaft in its middle'portion, said sleeve resting on the top of the member 11 and being secured to both, members by the braces 16, whereby the said members are'secured' in their cross shaped formation and said sleeve also is kept in a stationary manner over them.

' Suitable means like through going pins (not shown) may be provided between sleeve 15 and shaft 14 so as to secure said shaft against rotation and also transmit the weight thereon to the sleeve 15 and to the stationary base members 10 and 11.

vTwo further cross members 17 and 18 are further provided-adjacent to the upper end of the shaftlt also having holes 19in their centers for .said shaft, but being rotatable around the shaft. Rotatable cross members 17 and 18 are also preferably made of downwardly turned channel irons, the member 17 crossing in a straight line in one direction while the member 18 crossing the device erpendicular to said direction and being cut upwardly in its center portion to bridge over the member 17, as shown in Fig. 2. The" two rotating cross members are .permanentlysecured to each other by angle pieces 20 bolted and well known means'and being encircled by the forked end 24 of a lever 25, both branches of said forked end h-aving'aper tures for the upper end of shaft 14 and being freely rotatable therearou'nd. The upperend 26 of the shaft .14 may be provided with screw threads and a ma 26 may be provided to secure the rotatable portions of our 1 device, a shoulder on the shaft 14 or other suitable means being provided toprev'ent an undue tightening and pressure of the nut over 7 the rotatable members, while a second antifriction means like a roller hearing, as indicated at 27, may be interposed between the rotatable member 18 and the lower surface of the lever end 24 so as to prevent'an undue wobbling of the rotating cross and still permit an easy rotation of the same.

At the outer ends ofthe channel members 17 and 18 the side branches of the, same are cut away to a suitable distance and the thus remaining portion of the bottom of the channel is turned downwardly as at 28 and pieces 29 of iron bands are secured thereto, as by the rivets 30, said bands being in the shape of quarter circles and forming a full circle around the device.

In the embodiment shown one small aperture 31 is provided at the one end of each cross member 17 and 18 while a plurality of smaller square holes 32 are provided atjthe other end of each of them. At an appropriate distance inwardly from said holes further elongated slots 31 and 32 are provided 1n said members, said openings and said slots serving toadjustably secure the seats of our device on saidrotatin'g member.

7 The seats for our device are preferably shaped as shown in Fig. 3 and as indicated l in plan and front views in Figs.1 and 2, re-

spectively. The seats having a flat bottom 33 and a leg rest 34, as shown, and they are secured to the respective rotating members by placingtheiiat bottom thereacross in anfa-ppropriate position between the holes and slots 31 and 32 and 31 and 32, respectively, each.

chair 'carryingan-angle piece 35 on the outer side of its bottom 33, the horizontal portion of said angle piece 35 being placed over a smaller hole '31 or 32 and a bolt being passed through the aperture in said "horizontal I branch and said hole and the angle35 on the chair bolted "to the respective 'channeliron.

:Sin'cesmall irregularities may have to be met in placing the chairs, thefinner side of the chair will i be secured to i the respectivechannel iron by the use of an elongatedslot 31 or 32. For this purpose we provide the plate member 36 (Fig. 4), which shows two slots or incisions 37 at the sides thereof and an appropriate number of holes 38 in its upper part. The plate will be dropped in a longitudinal direction through the respective slot 31 or 32 and then turned in a crosswise position to the respective'channel irons, its slots 37 {engaging the bottom of said iron, it will then be pushed closely to the inner side of the respective chair bottom which is provided with'holes registering with the holes 38 in the plate 36 and appropriate bolts and other devices may then be passed through said registering holes and the chair bottom secured to the plate 36 as will be understood.

. At the ends of each rotating cross member we may also secure a down hanging arm 39 having a forked lower end 40 and a roller 41 rotatably journalled therein. I

The ope-rationof our device is as follows: The operator occupies the chair nearest to the arm 25 and draws its end 25 towardshimself in thedirection of arrow 42. The arm carries near its inner end pawl 43 which will engage the teeth of the ratchet wheel 23 and thereby fix the position of the arm 25. Since the arm 25 cannot move,the seat .will move towards itand thereby set the wholeuppei structure into rotation in the direction of arrow 44. When the body of the user reaches the lever 25 the operator pushes the lever forward in the direction of the rotation during which movement the pawl will loosly run over the teeth ofthe ratchet wheel 23,, and the lever being pushed over a suitable distance in front of the seat itwill again be pulled by the operator towards himself, and so the play continues and the upper movable structure may thereby attain a suitable speed of rotation. 4 g 1 r The circular band 29 servesjto stiffen the rotating structure and it "is also useful as a safeguard against a person stepping into the path of the rotating cross-members.

, Lever'25 preferably is bent upwardly as at 25" soas-to make its operative'end25 very convenient for the user. We also prefer to make the lever of two pieces Which will be 're'leasably joined together by any suitable and well known methodsas at 45 so that the operatinghandle or lever can be placed in front of any seat desired by moving the same should be removed, the outer end of the twopart lever'is temporarily removed and re placed when thelever is pointing a desired direction. The rollers 41 serve to support the rotating structure in case it swings or wobbles in an excessive manner or it tends to overturn.

Finally the purpose of the plurality of theholes 32 and elongated slots 32 is to make one seat on each cross member adjustable as to its distance from the center. It some times happens that children or other persons of widely divergent weights want to use the device, in which case the seat to be used by the heavier persons will be moved inwardly towards the center of our device and will then be fixed by the use of a suitable aperture 32 and slot 32 in the same manner as has been described hereinbefore.

Changes and variations may be made in the construction of the parts within the limits of the claims without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What we claim as new, is:

1. In an occupant-propelled carrousel, in combination, a stationary element; a movable element rotatable therearound; said station ary member comprising a base having a vertical shaft secured in its center and said movable element comprising beams having holes therein to receive said shaft; a sleeve encircling said shaft and secured thereto; antifriction means between said beams and said sleeve; a ratchet wheel secured adjacent to the top of said shaft; a lever rotatable around said shaft and carrying a pawl to engage said ratchet wheel; radially adjustable seats for the users on said beams; said lever being made of two radially adjustable sections, the outer section being removable for adjusting the operative length of said lever and for making the same operable from any of the seats.

2. In an occupant-propelled carrousel, in combination, a stationary element; a movable element rotatable therearound; said stationary member comprising a base having a vertical shaft secured in its center and said movable element comprising beams having holes therein to receive said shaft; a sleeve encircling said shaft and secured thereto; antifriction means between said beams and said sleeve; a ratchet wheel secured adjacent to the top of said shaft; a lever rotatable around said shaft and carrying a pawl to engage said ratchet wheel; radially, adjustable seats for the users on said beams; said rotatable cross beams being in the form of channel irons having longitudinal openings therein; slotted plates adapted to be dropped through said openings and to be turned crosswise therein, their slots engaging the bottom of the respective channel irons, and means to secure said plates to the respective seats to easily move said seats on the channel irons and to secure them in their adjusted position.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 16th day of June, A. D. 1928.

LEOPOLD BUSTIN. FRANK PRAVDA. 

